Privacy Statement

Harris Health System (“Harris Health”) collects certain information from visitors through this Web site (www.harrishealth.org). This statement describes what information is collected and how that information may be used and shared with third parties. Please note, Harris Health's HIPAA-required Notice of Privacy Practices is a separate document that describes how medical information about patients may be used and disclosed by Harris Health.

Collection & Use of Personal InformationAs a visitor, you do not have to submit any personal information in order to use this Web site. The Web site collects only personally identifiable information that is provided by visitors specifically and voluntarily. Such information may include, but may not be limited to your name, address, email address, and telephone number to allow us to provide you with notices or requested information about Harris Health, our services, facilities, or activities.

If you voluntarily identify yourself to Harris Health over the Internet, for example by registering to receive information from Harris Health, sending us an e-mail, or using a form like Contact Us, there are a few things you should know:

Harris Health will use the personal information that you provide primarily for the purposes for which it was collected.

Various employees and persons/vendors performing services for Harris Health may see and/or have access to the personal information that you submit.

Harris Health may enter the information you submit into our electronic databases.

Harris Health may be required by law to disclose your personal information.

You should note that electronic mail and other Internet channels are not necessarily secure against interception. Thus, the disclosure of personal information to Harris Health over the Internet is at your own risk.

CookiesHarris Health may use browser cookies to collect non-personal identifiable information. A cookie is numeric code that a website transfers to your hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Our Web server may collect the following general information about you:

The name of the domain from which you accessed the Internet, e.g., aol.com if you used an America Online account,

The pages you visited,

The name and release humber of the web browser software you used,

The date and time when you accessed our Web site, and

The Internet address from which you linked to us.

If your browser accepts cookies, we may use cookies to know when you visit our site, measure the amount of traffic to our site, offer you certain products or services, and customize our site to the interests of our visitors. When we examine data from cookies, it is always presented in an aggregate form. Except as outlined in the Information Security section below, we do not track or look at individuals' usage behavior.

Disclosure of Information to Third PartiesExcept as provided by this statement or as otherwise required or permitted by law, we do not disclose any non-public personal information about visitors to third parties. Under no circumstances will we ever disclose to a third party personal information about your medical conditions or interests, except when we believe in good faith that such disclosure is required or permitted by law.

Information SecurityFor site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, Harris Health Web servers employ industry-standard methods to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on Harris Health servers are strictly prohibited and may be punishable by law.

External LinksThe documents posted on this website may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. Harris Health does not control or guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information from non-Harris Health sites. Harris Health’s Privacy Statement only applies to this Web site. When visitors follow a link to another site, even the sites of state agencies, local governments, and local officials, this statement will not apply. You should read the privacy statement of each of these sites if you have concerns about how they handle personally identifiable information. The inclusion of links or pointers to Web sites is not intended to assign importance to those sites or the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse or recommend any views expressed, or products or services offered on these sites.

No Provider-Patient Relationship CreatedUse of this website, its services, programs and health information does not replace, nor is it intended to serve as, a healthcare provider-patient relationship. Visitors must always consult with a professional for diagnosis and treatment of specific health problems.

Changes to our Privacy StatementHarris Health reserves the right to modify or amend this privacy statement at any time for any reason. By your continued use of the website, you consent to the terms of any revisions posted to the Web site.

e-Greeting CardsWe offer our Web site visitors the opportunity to send a greeting to a patient in our facilities. You must know the name of the patient, the name of the pavilion in which he/she is being treated, and the patient’s age. You may enter this information, your message, your name, e-mail address, and relationship to the patient in a form on our Web site and send the form to us. We will make a good faith effort to print the message onto a greeting card and deliver it to the patient, but we cannot guarantee that all messages will be delivered. Harris Health assumes no liability for messages that do not reach their intended recipient. We do not retain the information entered on the form once the message has been delivered.

Public Information ActInformation collected or maintained by Harris Health may be subject to the Texas Public Information Act (Ch. 552, Texas Government Code).